Hasta La Gadget!

Further hints of Apple readying a smaller version of the iPad, colloquially known as the iPad mini, continue to trickle out, with new sources lending weight to talk of a late-Q3/early-Q4 reveal for the iOS tablet. Sources in the Asian supply chain are ramping up for a September release, the WSJ claims, with two of the insiders claiming Apple is targeting a screen size smaller than eight inches.

That would certainly fit in with earlier whispers, which pinned the panel down at 7.85-inches and most likely supplied by Sharp. The company is believed to be using IGZO LCD panels which have better screen quality but are thinner than traditional screens.

“Officials at the component suppliers, who declined to be named, said this week that Apple has told them to prepare for mass production of the smaller tablet” WSJ

Reports back in Q1 claimed Apple was playing around with the roughly 7-inch form-factor, but was undecided on whether to put its prototypes into mass production ahead of a commercial launch. This latest batch of leaks would seemingly hope to confirm that decision had been made, perhaps precipitated by the recent launch of Google’s own tablet and the ongoing success of the Kindle Fire.

As for pricing, although nothing is confirmed, tags in the region of $249 to $299 have been mentioned repeatedly, making the Apple slate slightly more expensive than its competitors.

So, legitimate product in the pipeline after years of speculation, or are sources – or, indeed, Apple – looking to derail the Google Nexus 7‘s momentum with whispers of an iOS alternative? And, even if the iPad mini does turn out to be real, would you slap down your credit card for one?

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iPad mini mass-production in September insist insiders is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The iPad mini rumor-mill was cranked back into action by Google’s Nexus 7, and now further leaks suggest the compact slate is on track for a sub-$300 release this coming fall. The oft-mentioned 7.85-inch display size is supposedly confirmed, Chinese site MyDrivers claims, with Sharp supposedly doing the honors supplying the panel and using its IGZO technology for speedier response rates and/or greater pixel density.

IGZO – or indium gallium zinc oxide – can, in Sharp’s screens, replace amorphous silicon for the active layer in an LCD panel. Sharp announced back in April that it was beginning mass production of various IGZO screen sizes, at the time sparking further speculation of an Apple TV as one of the panels measures 32-inches and runs at a hefty 3840 x 2160.

It’s Sharp’s smaller panels that have the iPad mini hopeful chattering, however; the company said it had a 7-incher running at 1280 x 800 in production as well. That’s slightly under the 7.85-inches of these latest rumors, though presumably not beyond Sharp’s abilities to produce.

According to the Chinese site, Apple’s new iPad mini will be priced at between $249 and $299, making it as much as $100 more than the entry-level Nexus 7. However, in Apple’s favor would be the established tablet software content in the App Store.

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[via IntoMobile; via Unwired View]

iPad mini to take on Nexus 7 at $100 premium this fall claim sources is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has so alienated Windows RT tablet manufacturers with its own-brand Surface that OEMs are abandoning the platform, insiders claim, with HP leading the way in ditching its roadmap. The PC company had intended to launch a number of Qualcomm-powered Windows RT models, it’s said, but according to SemiAccurate‘s sources HP dropped its plans after Microsoft’s handling of Surface and OS licensing.

Rumors that Microsoft’s Surface agenda was fueled by a general sense of disappointment over what it saw OEMs developing broke earlier this week, with analyst’s sources claiming that apathy had been the company’s motivation to go it alone. “If Microsoft had seen compelling enough plans from [PC makers],” Moor Insights & Strategy’s Patrick Moor said, after talks with Windows RT OEMs, ”they wouldn’t have needed to do this.”

However, this new batch of rumors suggests that rather than just prepare Surface as a “Plan B” of sorts, Microsoft actively took what it knew of each OEM’s Windows RT tablet – and what flaws in each it had identified – and used that knowledge to prepare its own range. Meanwhile, Microsoft also supposedly liberated its own designers and engineers from having to abide by the same restrictions that third-party OEMs were required to operate under.

Surface also stands a chance of being priced more competitively than rival Windows RT tablets, because Microsoft supposedly will not be paying the roughly $90-per-unit licensing fee. In short, a decision that was seemingly intended to motivate OEMs into being more imaginative with their Windows hardware could well have backfired spectacularly.

HP is not the last to jump ship, it’s said. Although no other specific names are mentioned, the sources apparently claim that “just about every OEM out there is scrapping one or more [Windows RT] designs, with most renewing Android efforts with every resource at their disposal.”

Update: HP confirms the decision; more here.

HP reportedly first to ditch Windows RT tablet plans over Microsoft’s Surface is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google is reportedly planning a 10-inch version of the Nexus 7, presumably to be dubbed the Nexus 10, as the Android company readies for a huge push into the tablet segment. Announced on Wednesday at Google IO, the Nexus 7 will apparently gain a bigger brother according to DigiTimes‘ sources at touch panel manufacturers.

Those insiders claim that Google expects to use 10-inch touch panels from AU Optronics and Wintek for the new Nexus 10. Wintek is believed to be a supplier for the Nexus 7, too, and in fact is tipped to have already shipped 500,000 touch panels for the 7-inch Jelly Bean slate in June.

In fact, Wintek is believed to be supplying Google’s Nexus 7 hardware partner ASUS with over one million touch panel units during May through July, indicating the scale of Google’s tablet plans. Wintek isn’t the only supplier of the component, either, with TPK Holding said to also be contributing an unspecified number of touch panels itself.

Exactly when the Nexus 10 could launch is unclear, though as Google seems keen to use its new tablet line-up to motivate developers into creating Android apps suited to larger displays – even if it has to sell them hardware with no margin – then we’d expect the bigger model sooner rather than later. More on the Nexus 7 in our full review.

Google Nexus 10 reportedly in pipeline is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Xbox Music is coming to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, that much we know. We also know that the Zune brand is dead. But whether the new service will be a simple rebadge or an entirely new beast remains a mystery. Bloomberg has it on good authority, however, that that Xbox Music will more than just a new face. Microsoft is allegedly combining all the most successful elements of its competitors — streaming, online storage, and offline syncing — into a product that will put iTunes, Spotify and Google Play squarely in its crosshairs. The company is allegedly in talks with the record labels to secure the necessary rights for a monthly subscription service and a market for purchasing tracks. It will also take a page from Google Music and allow customers to upload their own collections. If Microsoft can pull off a such a comprehensive service others in the field better watch out — few companies have the reach or budget of Redmond.

Xbox Music said to rival Spotify and iTunes, Microsoft to make a mark in music originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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